


Little

by PetrichorPerfume



Series: Shenanigans [61]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Crying Michael, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Little Gabriel, Little Lucifer, Little Michael, Lucifer Loves his Seal Friend, Non-Sexual Age Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 05:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2138253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetrichorPerfume/pseuds/PetrichorPerfume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel, Dean, Sam, and Adam take care of Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel when the archangels feel the need to just let go and be little for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little

**Author's Note:**

> And now for the sequel literally two or three people have (probably) been waiting for!
> 
> Just a quick disclaimer: This story is a little more serious than the others in this series, so be warned. Also, there are many different types of age-play and many different reasons people choose to participate in it. The age-play in this story is almost entirely non-sexual (I say almost because there is a brief romantic, but entirely non-sexual, interaction between little!Michael and Adam) and is part of these character's lives because of childhood traumas; that doesn't mean that all or even most people who enjoy age-play had horrible childhoods, etc, etc.

They’d been taking special care of their angels ever since Gabriel had given them that pamphlet about the needs of archangels. Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel had never been happier and even Castiel was content with the quality time he’d gotten to spend cuddling with Sam as a result.

 

But today, Michael and Lucifer are moody and Gabriel is pouting. Thankfully, Cas, Dean, Sam, and Adam know exactly what to do.

 

Castiel discretely leaves the room, which makes Gabriel pout harder, but Sam makes up for it by curling around him and gently playing with his hair. Lucifer starts to sulk as a result, but Adam just plops down on his lap with a smile.

 

“I’m not really in the mood,” Lucifer whines.

 

Adam just hugs him tighter. “Shh, let us take care of you. You’re all sad and we just want you to feel better.” When Lucifer starts to relax, he smiles. “Is there anything you want right now?”

 

Lucifer looks away and Adam strokes his cheek until the archangel turns to face him once more. “Don’t by shy, Luce. Just tell me. If I can get it for you, I will.”

 

Lucifer takes a deep steadying breath before speaking. “A blanket?” He asks shyly. “I really want a blanket.”

 

Adam smiles. “Sure, Luce. You want a thick blanket or a fuzzy one?”

 

Lucifer hesitates. “If I choose a fuzzy one, you’ll help keep me warm, right?”

 

Adam can’t resist the urge to press a tiny kiss onto Lucifer’s cheek. “Of course.” He rises to retrieve a blanket from the closet, and almost settles on the red one before remembering that Lucifer hates red. He chooses a lilac one instead and drapes it over Lucifer before tucking it in on one side. He crawls in under the blanket on the other and snuggles up close to the angel.

 

***

 

Dean settles down beside Michael, close but not touching, because this isn’t the first time they’ve done this and they all know that Michael needs to be eased into letting himself be cared for. Dean waits for Michael to start squirming (he hates making the angel wait, but Michael will get fussy if Dean tries to touch him before he’s ready), then extends his hand for the other to take. Michael’s fingers curl around it and Dean smiles and pulls the archangel into his lap.

 

Michael makes a distressed little noise and tenses up, and Dean can tell right away that Michael is going to be resistant at first. “Dean, don’t,” Michael begs. Dean frowns because that’s the tone that Michael uses when he wants something very badly but hates the fact that he wants it. Dean doesn’t let him go, because he knows that if Michael really weren’t in the mood to be babied, he’d playfully push Dean away and laugh and smile and accept the cuddles anyway, for a little while at least, and then go about the rest of this day as normal.

 

“Hush,” Dean says kindly. He knows that Michael is just going to work himself up if he keeps talking.

 

Michael shudders. “I hate this, Dean! I hate that you take care of me when you should be off somewhere doing what _you_ want to do. Please, just go,” he whispers.

 

Dean doesn’t mention the fact that Michael could just leave if he really wanted to, or that _no one_ made an _archangel_ do what they claimed to ‘hate,’ or that he _knows_ that Michael would all but fall apart if he did leave right now. He also doesn’t mention the fact that Michael’s lip is quivering or that he’s on the verge of tears, or that he needs this no matter how much he protests. “I want to be here with you,” he says instead. “I like being here, and I like cuddling you. Do you think you can let me hold you for a little while?”

 

Michael shrugs. “I guess so. But I know that you’re gonna try to take care of me once Cas comes back. And I won’t let you.”

 

Dean smiles softly. Michael’s reluctance would be adorable if he didn’t end up making himself upset every time. “Whatever you want, Mika.”

 

Michael lets himself relax just a little bit, and Dean rubs soothing circles on his back as a reward.

 

“That’s it, just relax,” Dean whispers. “Just let me hold you.”

 

***

 

Adam doesn’t blame Michael for freaking out every time they do this for their angels. If he were an eons-old all-powerful being, he’d be hesitant to let himself be reduced to little more than a child too, and that fact that Dean and Cas take him all the way back to babyhood probably doesn’t help things much, but both Dean and Cas insist that he needs it, and Michael is always so _happy_ afterwards, as if some long-suppressed need is _finally_ beginning to be fulfilled.

 

He sort of wishes that he could take care of Michael, but they’d tried that once and it had been miserable for everyone. Adam hadn’t been able to properly regress Michael, Dean had become frustrated with Lucifer far too easily, and Gabriel had been distracted when Cas had tried to help Sam take care of him. No, this arrangement works out best for all of them.

 

He also wishes that Michael would freak-out a little more quietly, because it upsets Lucifer every time. “I want my Seal Friend,” the archangel whines.

 

Adam gives Lucifer his softest smile. “Cas will be back really soon, and you know he always brings your seal.”

 

Lucifer starts to pout. “But I want my seal now!”

 

“Would you like me to get him for you?” Adam asks. Usually, he doesn’t have very much patience with Lucifer, but when the archangel gets like this, he has the patience of a saint.

 

Lucifer frowns. “No! I wanna cuddle you!” He gently pulls Adam closer, which makes the human smile. Even when Luce gets like this, he’s still careful not to abuse his strength.

 

“How about you pretend I’m your Seal Friend?” Adam offers. He knows that Lucifer loves his giant stuffed seal, especially on days like this.

 

Lucifer shrugs. “You’re not very seal-like,” he accuses.

 

“That’s because I’m human,” Adam explains.

 

Lucifer smiles. “I know. I like humans almost as much as I like seals. You’d be better if you were fuzzy, but then that would make my special together time with Sammy weird.”

 

Adam smiles softly. He doesn’t exactly like when Lucifer thinks about his ‘special together time’ with his mates when he’s like this, but he knows that the archangel was just trying to make a joke. “I don’t think we’d enjoy being fuzzy, Luce.”

 

Lucifer shrugs. “Yeah, but you’d be a lot more cuddly.”

 

Adam rolls his eyes. “I’ll just have to make up for it by trying extra hard, then, okay?”

 

Lucifer beams. “Cuddles!”

 

“Yeah, Luce. All the cuddles you want.”

 

***

 

Gabriel isn’t the neediest among them on days like this (that would be Michael) but he is the most physically demanding in that he needs to be pet and touched and stroked and held and be given tiny kisses on the cheek almost constantly. He’s not happy unless someone is lavishing him with love and attention. Sam is more than happy to be that person.

 

“Hey, Gabe, you like this? Like getting all these pets and cuddles?” He coos.

 

Gabriel purrs enthusiastically and tries to press into Sam’s hands. He tilts his head back so Sam can scratch under his chin. “Good Sammy,” he says in between purrs.

 

Sam laughs. “Who’s my beautiful Gabie-Wabie?” He asks.

 

“I am!” Gabriel trills. “I am, I am, aren’t I?”

 

Sam wraps his arms around Gabriel. “Yes, you are.”

 

***

 

Castiel hadn’t really been sure what to think when he’d first read what Gabriel had wrote. He’d always thought of the Archangels as living, breathing, moving fortresses. Archangels were absolute in their power and in their wrath and in all things they did. They stood still and withstood the test of time and above all, they were completely and utterly impenetrable. _Fortress,_ he tells himself. _Heart of stone._

 

At first, in the early days when he was still young and things were just beginning to go wrong, he’d thought of them as storms – twisting, turning, raging storms, sweeping through his perfect life and destroying everything he’d ever loved.

 

And before that... Before that, he’d thought of them differently still, because the first time he’d met Michael he’d been _terrified_ but Michael had just picked him up and booped him on the nose and called out joyously to Lucifer shouting, “I just found the cutest little brother _ever_!” Back then, he’d thought of them as bees, big, lovable bees that could be dangerous when provoked in a theoretical sense but that were ultimately just soft and fuzzy and cuddly and _home._ He didn’t like to think about that, though, because one of them had ruined everything and even though he tried to blame Raphael for it, because it was easy now that he was dead, he’s pretty sure that Raphael had very little to do with it.

 

And even once he’d started living with them and watched them laugh and play and fall in love, he’d still preferred to think of them as fortresses. They were _fortis,_ strong, and _fortress,_ heart of stone, and they’d never be anything else to him, even if they had raised him, once, and even if they had loved him long and long ago, because they’d ruined _everything_ and nothing could ever change that.

 

Except... Once he’d read Gabriel’s pamphlet, he’d started feeling differently. He’d started to think that maybe _he’d_ been the one with a heart of stone, that maybe, just maybe, his brothers had been just as broken by their actions as he was.

 

_Maybe... Maybe they’re like gardens,_ he’d thought. _Maybe they’ve been that way all along. Yes, that’s it. They’re like gardens, with stone walls that have crumbled over time, and yes, sometimes they are stormy, but most of the time they’re just nice gardens filled with bees and flowers and honey and things. That’s it._

 

So he’d tried to open his heart to them, to see them as the brothers who had raised him and loved him and made Baby Angel sandwiches with him instead of as the monsters who had torn apart Heaven. And they’d rewarded him with love and gratitude and joy.

 

The first time he’d taken care of Michael with Dean, he’d been hesitant, but Michael had been... So sweet, and so adorable, and he’d _seen_ how much he brother needed him, and ever since then he’s made a point of welcoming his brothers into his life.

 

Now, as he flies around the house gathering what they’ll need for the day, he smiles as he reflects on how he came to rekindle his relationship with his siblings. “There,” he says as he tucks Lucifer’s seal under one arm. “All done.”

 

***

 

Castiel is hug-tackled by two hyper archangels the moment he walks in the door. “Cas!” Gabriel and Lucifer shout in unison. He laughs and gently shakes them off.

 

“I’m here, guys,” he says.

 

Lucifer makes grabby-hands for his seal and Cas is almost tempted to make him say please, but he feels that Lucifer has waited long enough. “Here you go, Luci,” he says as he hands the stuffed toy to his brother.

 

“Thanks, Cas,” Lucifer says. He gives Cas one last hug before returning to Adam.

 

Gabriel looks at him expectantly and Cas considers teasing him by saying, ‘I’m sorry, Gabie; I didn’t get you anything,’ but the archangel’s face is so _hopeful_ that he can’t quite bring himself to do so. He produces a lollipop from his bag and hands it to Gabriel. “Here you go, sweetheart.” It’s sugar-free, but Gabriel doesn’t need to know that.

 

“Thanks!” Gabe says before bounding back to Sam to show him his treat.

 

Finally, Cas turns to Michael, who hasn’t come to greet him and is instead sulking in Dean’s arms. He can already tell that he’ll have his work cut out for him with the oldest archangel. “Hello, Michael,” he greets as he approaches slowly and carefully so as not to frighten his brother.

 

Michael sniffles. “H-hey, Cas.”

 

Cas bends down to talk to Michael face-to-face. “Stop crying, Mika. We’re gonna take care of you.”

 

Michael sniffles harder. “Don... Don’t wanna,” he hiccups.

 

Castiel sets down his supply bag and rummages through it until he finds the pacifiers that they sometimes use to calm Michael down. He takes out the one that has a penguin on it and holds it up for his brother to see. When Michael whimpers, he sets it down on the couch cushion beside him. “We’re not going to force you to use it if you don’t want to, but you _know_ it calms you down, so we’re going to leave it right there for you, okay?” He almost wishes that Michael would be more receptive to using it right now, because it works like magic on his nerves, but Michael will just get more upset if they insist he starts sucking on it right away.

 

“Don’t wanna be taken care of today,” Michael insists with a pout.

 

Castiel just reaches into the bag to take out Michael’s elephant toy, because he knew that if what the archangel was saying were true, he’d already have left. “Don’t lie, Mika,” he chastises.

 

“’s not a lie!” Michael insists. “I hate this because I know you’d rather be doing anything else, that I shouldn’t want to act like a baby and that I shouldn’t need this and that you think I’m stupid because of it, and-” Cas silences him with a finger on his lips and he pouts even harder.

 

“Please don’t assume what we’d rather be doing,” Castiel says quietly. “And don’t presume to know what we think of you. What did we tell you the last time we did this?”

 

Michael crosses his arms and looks away. “I don’t know,” he mumbles.

 

Cas gently turns Michael’s head to face him once more. “Don’t pretend you don’t know, Mika. I know you know, and Dean knows that you know, so tell us.”

 

Michael whimpers. “D-Dean said that he wouldn’t mind doing this for me even if I needed it every day, and you said that seeing me happy makes you happy.”

 

Cas smiles softly. “And we meant it. Right now, Dean and I would like for you to let us make you happy, okay?”

 

Two twin tears race down Michael’s cheeks. “I don’t deserve to be happy,” he whispers sadly.

 

Castiel watches as Dean’s arms tighten around Michael’s waist. He wants nothing more than to be doing the same thing, but right now Michael needs a firm hand. “Yes, you do,” he counters. He picks up the pacifier. “Now open up. We’re not gonna give you a choice anymore. You know that your binky makes you feel all soft and sleepy and special and safe. It’s not gonna hurt you, Mika. Here.” He tries to slip the soft rubber between the archangel’s lips, but Michael turns his head away.

 

“And what if I don’t?” He challenges. “Are you gonna s-spank me?” He starts to squirm as he thinks about what would happen if Dean and Cas took him up on his offer. “P-please don’t spank me,” he whispers.

 

Cas takes one of Michael’s hands in his own. “You know we’d never hurt when you’re like this,” he says. “But if you don’t take the pacifier, we’re going to be very disappointed in you.” He knows that Michael hates when they pretend to be disappointed in him. It’s the most effective way to get Michael to admit that he wants what they’re offering, because by the time he caves, he’ll be willing to accept their love and desperate for comfort.

 

Michael whimpers again, and starts to squirm harder. “Don’t want you to be disappointed in me!” He wails. “Don’t leave, please, I promise I’ll be good.”

 

Cas frowns and adds ‘we’re disappointed in you’ to his mental list of Things Never to Say to Michael. “We’re not going to leave you,” he promises as he finally gives into the urge to climb up onto the couch and curl around Dean and Michael. “Ever,” he adds. “Shh, it’s okay, Mika. We’re not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do, and we’re not disappointed in you, okay?”

 

Michael starts to tremble and curls up into a miserable little ball. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

 

Cas takes Michael from Dean. “No, Mika. Don’t be sorry. Shh, sit up for a second. Remember what you used to do for me when I used to get upset when I was a baby angel, hmm?” A year ago, he’d tried not to bring up those memories, but now they’re some of his fondest. “Remember how you used to trace little patterns on my hand and it used to tickle and make me smile?”

 

Michael gives him a weak smile. “You didn’t have any hands,” he accuses.

 

Cas grins. “No, I guess not. Come on, now, close your eyes and let me.” Michael obeys, and he traces a heart on the palm of his hand.

 

Michael thinks for a moment. “That’s the ‘I love you’ symbol,” he says after a while. “Does that mean you love me?”

 

Castiel rolls his eyes fondly. “That’s exactly what it means, Mika. Most humans call it a ‘heart,’ but I like your term better.”

 

Michael smiles. “Another!” He demands.

 

Cas traces a cartoon cat on Michael’s hand.

 

“A circle... And two dots... And two triangles... Plus a sideways parentheses.”

 

Cas laughs. “Stop over-thinking it.” He makes the cat again.

 

“A kitty!” Michael says. He starts to purr. “I wanna be a kitty! Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, can you pet me?” He begs.

 

“Of course, Mika,” Dean says as he starts to comb his fingers through Michael’s hair. He’s always amazed by how _soft_ it is, but he always forgets to ask how the archangel gets it that way and he can never find a good excuse to touch Lucifer’s or Gabriel’s hair to see if it’s just an archangel thing.

 

Castiel’s hair is soft, too, but touching Michael’s hair is like touching a cloud full of the smallest, fluffiest kittens ever. “So soft,” he mumbles.

 

Michael puffs up at the praise, so Dean decides to keep going. “It’s so fluffy, and you’re so cute and lovable and huggable and squeezable,” he says. “When did you get so cute, huh, Mika? You know that we’re never gonna stop loving you, right?”

 

“Never ever?” Michael asks.

 

“Never ever, ever,” Dean replies.

 

“Hey, Mika, I have a surprise for you,” Cas interrupts. “You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it, but we’re going to give it to you unless you say no, okay?”

 

Michael perks up, because surprises are almost always good, especially when they’re from Cas. He watches as the younger angel takes a baby bottle filled with milk from the supply bag and _whimpers,_ because he’s always, always, _always_ wanted to be one of those babies on TV with loving daddies who held them and fed them warmed-up milk and let them sleep in their arms afterwards.

 

Then Cas brings the bottle to his lips and he whimpers again because he just knows it won’t be the same if it’s not warm, but then a drop of perfectly warm, perfectly sweet, perfectly _perfect_ milk falls on his tongue and he starts suckling as fast as he can.

 

“Slow down,” Dean says. “You’re gonna make yourself sick if you drink like that.” He begins to rub Michael’s stomach and Michael closes his eyes and lets himself drift, because this is _perfect._ Dean and Cas are taking care of him, and Lulu and Gabie are there, too, being taken care of by Adam and Sam, and they’re all here, showing him how much he and his brothers are loved. He’s being fed just like he’s always dreamt of, and Dean is being so tender with him because he’s loved and nothing is going to hurt him for as long as he stays here, in their arms.

 

He feels gentle fingers brushing across his cheeks and opens his eyes.

 

“It’s okay, Mika,” Cas soothes, and Michael realizes belatedly that he’s crying big, fat tears. He tries to turn away so they won’t see, but Cas holds him steady. “It’s okay to cry, Mika.”

 

Michael pushes the bottle out of his mouth. “I dunno why I’m crying,” he mumbles.

 

“It’s okay not to know,” Cas reassures him. “You gotta let us know if you’re sad, though, so we can help you.”

 

Michael nods. He cries a lot when they do this, sometimes because he’s happy, sometimes because he’s stressed, sometimes because he’s sad, and sometimes for no reason at all. He sniffles. “I’m happy, but... Not.”

 

He feels safe and loved and happy, but there’s still one thing missing. He’s cold. Not as cold as he was in Hell, of course, and not as cold as Lucifer has been most of his life, and not even outside-at-night-in-October cold. He’s chilly, like late-September, early-October, windy day while you’re wearing a sweater chilly. He looks over towards Lucifer, who is nice and warm and buried in blankets, and he knows that he shouldn’t be jealous of his own brother, but he is. He’s jealous that Adam piled blanket after blanket over the younger archangel and then slipped under them to keep him toasty, jealous that Dean and Cas didn’t do the same thing for him.

 

He knows that it’s against the rules to use his powers to make what he needs, unless it’s an emergency, and he’s pretty sure that being moderately cold doesn’t count as an emergency. “I’m cold,” he explains. He knows that neither Cas nor Dean will deny him what he needs when he’s like this, but he doesn’t want to wait for one of them to go all the way across the room and get a blanket, and he doesn’t want either of them to leave.

 

“I’ll get you a blanket,” Cas says.

 

Michael whimpers. Even though he knows that his brother could be there and back in seconds, even an instant would be too long. “Don’t leave,” he begs.

 

Dean lifts him up. “Come on, let’s go visit Luce while we’re waiting for Cas. That way, you won’t have to feel so alone.”

 

Michael smiles, because even though he’s still not fond of the idea of Cas leaving, he’s going to get to see his Lulu.

 

***

 

Adam can tell from the way Michael keeps squirming and biting his lip and sending sneaky little glances in his direction that he’s long since stopped paying attention to Lucifer. He knows that Michael’s love for him morphs into a hopeless, helpless crush whenever he lets himself regress, and the poor thing doesn’t even have the presence of mind to be subtle about it.

 

It’s adorable, and it sort of reminds him of that one month in second grade when he’d had the _worst_ crush on a fifth grader named May Gallagher. He’d followed her around everywhere, and she’d been so nice about it, too, letting him sit at her table at lunch with her ‘grown-up’ friends and offering him little pieces of her homemade cookies and even allowing him to hold her hand once or twice.

 

“Hey, Mike,” he says softly.

 

His mate blushes and looks away. “H-h-hi, Adam,” he says.

 

Adam extends his hand and Michael looks up at Dean, who nods at him and says, “Go ahead.” The archangel takes his hand and blushes even deeper, and part of Adam wishes that his mate could be this adorably shy all the time.

 

Then Michael starts to purr, which sets off Lucifer, which sets off Gabriel, who takes the opportunity to purr even louder than he’s been purring all day.

 

“Come on, Mika, time to go,” Cas says as he returns with an armful of blankets.

 

Lucifer reaches out with a happy cry of, “Blankies!” Adam is about to chastise him for stealing Michael’s blankets, but Cas silences him with a wordless shake of his head.

 

Cas hands the blankets to Dean before draping one over Lucifer and Adam. “I got an extra one for you, Luce. I’d never forget you!”

 

Lucifer claps his hands and snuggles closer to Adam.

 

“I don’t wanna go,” Michael says in a very small voice.

 

Lucifer leans forward to kiss his cheek and to whisper something in his ear. Michael’s entire face lights up and he starts to _vibrate_ with excitement. “I love you, Lulu,” he says.

 

“I love you too, Mika-Mika,” Lucifer says.

 

Cas lifts Michael up and smiles at Adam before carrying his archangel back to their couch.

 

“What did you tell him, Luce?” Adam asks.

 

Lucifer looks away guiltily.

 

“Lu,” Adam warns.

 

“Promise you won’t get mad?” Lucifer asks.

 

Adam is about to say that he’s not going to promise _anything,_ but then he remembers how happy Michael had been and shrugs. “Promise.”

 

Lucifer blushes. “I sorta kinda promised to take him out of time to cuddle for as long as he wanted later? Please don’t be mad!”

 

Adam smiles. He’d suspected they’d been doing as much, especially when they walked out of the room tense and unhappy and returned seconds later laughing and holding hands and giggling like a pair of schoolgirls. He knew why they did it, too, and he didn’t mind. And even if he did, well, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it. “I’m not mad, Luce. I understand. Just don’t be secretive about it, okay? Especially with me. You know that I’m very supportive of whatever you and Mike wanna do.” At Lucifer’s confused expression, he sighs. “I’ll tell you again later, okay? All you need to know is that I’m not mad.”

 

Lucifer makes a happy noise and cuddles closer to him. “You’re so warm, Adam.” He lets his eyes flutter closed. “Can I tell you a secret?”

 

“Sure, Luce.”

 

“I like you better than my Seal Friend,” Lucifer whispers.

 

Adam smiles. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. And I think you’re pretty cool, too.”

 

“Do you love me?” Lucifer whispers.

 

Adam can’t help but try to hug Lucifer tighter, because there is only ever one answer to that question. “More than you will ever know.”

 

***

 

Gabriel doesn’t fall as far as his brothers do. He wants to, sometimes, but he feels that _someone_ has to stay at least a little bit coherent in the event of something bad happening. That’s what he tells Sam, anyway, when his mate asks him why he never lets himself sink all the way into his headspace.

 

The truth is that he’s scared. He knows that Sam would take good care of him, knows that if he wanted him to, he’d cover him in blankets and slip a binky into his mouth and coo at him. But he doesn’t need that, at least not the way Lucifer and Michael do. It’s something he wants, not something he needs, and he’s not sure he’s comfortable asking for something that he _wants_ but doesn’t necessarily need, especially since it’s an emotional desire and not something he can procure for himself at the snap of his fingers.

 

“Gabie, you’re thinking too hard,” Sam whispers.

 

Gabriel shakes his head. “Am not.” Okay, so maybe he’s a little further along than he’s willing to admit, but that doesn’t mean he needs to let his mind get clouded over by the childish thoughts and emotions that seem to spill so freely from his mouth.

 

“Gabe, you gotta relax,” Sam says. “Let me take care of you.”

 

“No,” Gabriel whines. The word surprises him a little bit, because he’s usually enjoys their time together and enjoys when Sam holds him and pets him, and he doesn’t actually want Sam to stop but he also doesn’t want Sam to think that he wants to be taken care of as completely as Lucifer and Michael, even if he does.

 

“Gabriel.”

 

Gabriel whimpers because he hates it when Sam uses his full name when he’s like this, hates when Sam stops using those adorable little pet names that he loves, hates whatever it is that Sam is trying to accomplish. He opens his mouth to say that, but all that comes out is a whimpered, “Please.”

 

“Good boy,” Sam coos. “Shh, let me help you, Gabie. You know how happy this leaves your brothers. Let me make you happy, too.”

 

Gabriel tries to resist, tries to say that it’s a stupid idea, but he can’t seem to bring himself to speak. He wants what Sam is offering, and he’s wanted it for far too long to even try to resist right now.

 

“I’m going to go get some things from Castiel’s bag, stay here, I’ll-” The bag slides across the floor and stops at his feet and he frowns at Gabriel because the archangel should know better by now than to use his powers when they’re doing this, but then he sees Cas looking at him with what Sam likes to call his and Dean’s ‘batman look.’ He rolls his eyes and leans down to rummage through it. There are some toys in there, so he takes out a slightly misshapen stuffed cat wearing a tiara.

 

“Princess cat!” Gabriel says. Sam shakes his head fondly and rearranges the contents of the bag until he finds a sealed container full of finger foods. He briefly considers taking out the bag of finger sandwiches, but then he remembers that Gabriel isn’t actually a child and doesn’t technically need to eat healthy.

 

“If I give you some cookies, will you be good for me?” He asks. He’s going to give Gabriel the cookies even if he says no, but the archangel doesn’t have to know that right now.

 

“Yes, Sammy,” Gabriel says petulantly.

 

Sam smiles and takes out the bag of cookies. Gabriel tries to take it from him, but he’s not trying very hard so Sam manages to keep it out of his reach. “Wait. Let me feed you.”

 

Gabriel sighs rather dramatically, but he starts purring again so Sam can tell he’s not too upset by the notion. “Cookies,” he demands.

 

“Say please,” Sam orders.

 

“Cookies, _please,_ ” Gabriel says with far too much sass for Sam’s liking.

 

“Ask _nicely_ ,” Sam says. Normally, he’d find his mate’s antics hilarious, but right now Gabriel needs to be treated like a child.

 

“I’m sorry, please don’t be mad,” Gabriel begs. “Please, may I have some cookies?”

 

Sam smiles. “It’s okay, Gabie. I’m not mad at you, so you shouldn’t get upset. I understand that you forget your manners sometimes. You can have as many cookies as you want,” he promises as he reaches into the bag for the first cookie. It’s fudgy chocolate chip, Gabriel’s favorite.

 

Gabriel nibbles on it daintily and Sam laughs because he’s never seen Gabriel eat a cookie so slowly. Suddenly, Gabriel stops eating. “Sammy?” He asks quietly.

 

“Yeah, Gabie?”

 

“Will you take care of me if... If I just want to stop thinking for a while and, and, and... And enjoy this?” He stutters. He looks away, because the prospect is absolutely terrifying.

 

“Of course,” Sam says.

 

“And you won’t hurt me?”

 

“I would never.”

 

“And you’ll hold me?”

 

“Always.”

 

Gabriel closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and lets himself fall, knowing that Sam will always be there to catch him.


End file.
